Microstation V8 Review Session 67 Elwin Broome FL. Dept. of Transportation

Session 67
Elwin Broome
FL. Dept. of Transportation
Microstation V8 Review
Topic Description
During this session a panel consisting of Esther Barwick, Bruce Dana, and Elwin Broome, all from FDOT’s Engineering/CADD
Systems Office, will present and discuss some of the critical issues faced with the migration of projects from MicroStation version
7 to MicroStation version 8. Discussion of solutions and workarounds for specific production topics and questions that may have
been previously submitted for consideration by the panel will occur. As time permits, the panel will entertain questions from the
audience.
Speaker Biography
Elwin Broome is a 35 year veteran of the Florida DOT. He grew up in Marianna, Florida and is a 1971 Graduate of Chipola Jr.
College, Marianna, FL. He became a Registered Florida Professional Engineer in August of 1987. Having served in various
capacities since joining the Department in December of 1971, including D3 R/W Engineering, D3 Final Estimates, D3 Design, CO
Preliminary Estimates, and CO Topographics, Elwin joined the CO Engineering/CADD Systems Office in December of 1994 and
has served as office manager since April of 1997. Elwin was recipient of the District 3 Sustained Superior Achievement Award in
1990, the Secretary’s Award for Sustained Superior Achievement in 1990, and was DOT’s honoree in 1990 during Public Service
Recognition Week. Elwin's interests include his granddaughter, music, gardening, fishing, and travel. Elwin's last official day with
the Department will be December 31, 2006, as he completes five years of the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP).
Elwin’s plans for the future will be pursuit of his interests.
Session 67
Bruce Dana
FL. Dept. of Transportation
Microstation V8 Review
Topic Description
During this session a panel consisting of Esther Barwick, Bruce Dana, and Elwin Broome, all from FDOT’s Engineering/CADD
Systems Office, will present and discuss some of the critical issues faced with the migration of projects from MicroStation version
7 to MicroStation version 8. Discussion of solutions and workarounds for specific production topics and questions that may have
been previously submitted for consideration by the panel will occur. As time permits, the panel will entertain questions from the
audience.
Speaker Biography
Bruce Dana, PE has been with FDOT for more than 19 years. He is currently responsible for coordination of CADD support and
software development for the FDOT Engineering / CADD Systems Office in Tallahassee.
Session 67
Esther Barwick
FL. Dept. of Transportation
Microstation V8 Review
Topic Description
During this session a panel consisting of Esther Barwick, Bruce Dana, and Elwin Broome, all from FDOT’s Engineering/CADD
Systems Office, will present and discuss some of the critical issues faced with the migration of projects from MicroStation version
7 to MicroStation version 8. Discussion of solutions and workarounds for specific production topics and questions that may have
been previously submitted for consideration by the panel will occur. As time permits, the panel will entertain questions from the
audience.
Speaker Biography
Esther has worked for FDOT for 22 years. The first eleven years in District 1 doing Traffic plans and Roadway Design plans. The
last eleven years she has been in the Engineering/CADD Systems Office in Tallahasse doing CADD support and training.
Microstation V8
The MicroStation V8 Journey
October
2004
FDOT began preparing for MicroStation V8.
May 26,
2005
The first version of the FDOT CADD software for
V8 was released on May 26, 2005 based on
MicroStation 8.05.02.27.
Dec. 2004 –
May 2005
June 2005
FDOT submitted questions and problems to
Bentley prior to the May release twice. FDOT
requested that Bentley send someone on-site to
review the issues FDOT was encountering. This did
not happen prior to the release.
Bentley pulls the MicroStation version 08.05.02.27
from its website citing a “workflow” error & states
a new version will be posted as soon as possible.
1
The MicroStation V8 Journey
July 2005
July 2005
August 31,
2005
September
2005
Bentley provided a compilation of the TR reports for
08.05.02.27. Many of the issues were similar to the
problems FDOT had also been encountering.
Bentley posted MicroStation version 08.05.02.35 and
GEOPAK re-certified on the new SELECT release.
FDOT Released FDOT2004, MR1 based on
MicroStation 08.05.02.35
Consultants and FDOT began to report serious
custom linestyle issues in 08.05.02.35. When these
problems were confirmed as bugs, FDOT worked
with Bentley for workaround solutions.
The MicroStation V8 Journey
Dec. 9
2005
January
2006
February
27, 2006
March 24,
2006
Bentley provided a the priority build version
08.05.02.42. This version contained fixes for custom
linestyles and known critical problems.
Based on discussions with Bentley, FDOT decides
FDOT2004 MR 2 will be based on version
08.05.02.42.
A few files are sent to FDOT where the custom
linestyles were not displaying correctly even with the
08.05.02.42 version, but the 42 version appeared to
resolve the problem in the vast majority of files.
Bentley releases the 08.05.02.48 priority build of
MicroStation to FDOT. It contained additional fixes
for custom linestyles and plotting issues.
2
The MicroStation V8 Journey
April 13
2006
April 19
2006
May 2006
Because GEOPAK was not certified on the 48
priority build, and FDOT had not tested on version
48, FDOT decided to release MR2 based on
08.05.02.42.
FDOT is notified by Bentley of a serious plotting
bug in version 08.05.02.42. Due to this, FDOT sent
out a notice recommending that everyone load the
MicroStation priority build version 08.05.02.48 with
FDOT2004, MR2.
A project is sent to FDOT where some of the custom
linestyles are not displaying correctly in the
08.05.02.48 version. It was discovered that some
files must have the same workarounds applied again.
Issues in MicroStation V8
„
Display of custom linestyles in both active and
reference files:
Incorrect scale (too big – too small).
„ Wrong linestyle displaying.
„ Linestyle not displaying at all.
„ Text in linestyle not half-toning.
„ Linestyles in reference won’t synchronize with
level library.
„ Custom linestyles won’t flip.
„
3
Issues in MicroStation V8
Files opening very slowly.
„ Corrupted design files that won’t open.
„ Conversion files are not remapping correctly
when using type in combination with other
criteria.
„ V7 files off the design plane.
„ Importing linestyles from a resource file cause
a system fault 0.
„ Unable to delete unused levels 1-63.
„
Issues in MicroStation V8
Reference files not aligning with active files
„ After conversion reference elements are not
displayed.
„ After conversion, elements that did not match
standards were changed to color = 0, wt=0,
and linestyle = 0.
„ HMR files are not exactly to scale after
conversion.
„ Cells are not to scale.
„
4
Issues in MicroStation V8
„
Plotting problems when plotting large Raster
Images in version 08.05.02.42.
Current Issues in GEOPAK2004
„
„
„
„
„
Files running very slow when creating cross section
sheets.
The D&C Pavement Marking program does not
support coincident world when using an element
from a reference file.
D&C Striping tool occasionally gives a system fault 5
error.
Problem finding and running cross sections if the
cross sections are not in the default model.
GEOPAK Drainage reporting errors.
5
Issues with FDOT2004
QC rule files
„ Conversion files
„ R/W SiteMenu
„ Missing levels
„ Cross Section criteria files
„ Drainage criteria files
„ Sheet Navigator not picking up some fields
after conversion and not placing electronic
note in V7 workmode, not finding sheets in
other models within the same file.
„
Issues with FDOT2004
GDM QuikChek program cannot place an
element on a level that doesn’t actually exist
in the active file.
„ Geotech standards issues.
„ GEOPAK Design & Computation database.
„
Pay items not matching BOE
„ Symbology issues
„ 3PC files not functioning correctly
„
„
GEOPAK Drainage support files.
6
Status of Issues
„
„
„
MicroStation version 08.05.02.48 seems to have
fixed all known critical issues. If custom linestyle
workarounds had been applied in version
08.05.02.35 or 08.05.02.42, these workarounds may
have to be again applied.
GEOPAK2004 version 08.08 addresses all FDOT
reported critical issues plus includes FDOT requested
enhancements for GEOPAK Drainage and Quantity
Manager.
FDOT2004 MR2 fixes all critical issues. Outstanding
issues will be addressed in MR3. This includes fixes
and enhancements to SheetNavigator, QuikChek,
criteria files, Drainage support files and updates to
cells for PPM changes.
Solution/Workaround:
MicroStation Opening Slowly
„
If a file has an attached cell library, the entire UNC
path is stored in MicroStation to the cell library. If
the file is moved on the network, when MicroStation
is opened MicroStation will try to attach the cell
library from the same UNC path, if it has a problem
resolve the path it will wait for the network to time
out before finishing opening the design file. This
usually occurs when files are moved from one server
to another. Solution: Wait for the file to open then
detach the Cell Library using the key-in “RC= ” and
then save settings before exiting.
7
Solution/Workaround:
Corrupt Design Files
„
There is an mdl delivered with V8 to repair files. It
can be run using this keyin: "mdl load verifydgn;
verifydgn repair“. This key-in must be executed
against the file in the untitled workspace. If this
doesn’t solve the problem and you don’t have access
to Axiom’s FileFixer program, from within
MicroStation Manager dialog, save the file as a V8
file (even though it already is) this will replace the
file header. If this doesn’t solve the problem the
only recourse is to replace the file with a backup
version.
Solution/Workaround:
Linestyles Not Displaying Correctly
„
„
„
If the linestyles are in a reference file and displaying the
wrong linestyle, from the active file enter the key-in
“REFERENCE SYNCHRONIZE LEVELS;DGNLIB UPDATE
LEVELS”.
If the scale of the custom linestyle wrong (this is usually seen
in files converted from MS/J to V8), Import the custom
linestyles into the design file. This can be done using the
key-in “linestyle import todgn c:/test.rsc”, where c:/test.rsc
represents the path and filename of the resource file. The
resource files cannot be locked. If they are on the server and
locked copy them to a local directory before importing. The
standard resource files are in: \fdot2004\standards\symb\
This process can be automated to run against several files or
a project by running it as a batch process.
8
Batch Process Utility
„
„
„
„
From the MS Utilities menu, choose
Batch Process then click the Create a
New Command File icon.
Enter a name for the command file
with a .txt extension and click OK.
Enter the MicroStation key-ins, save &
exit the file. To import custom
linestyles for a project, use the key-in
“linestyle import todgn
\fdot2004\standards\symb\utilites.rsc”
for the linestyle resource files.
Select the files or directories to
process then click Add. Click Done.
The Process Tasks list box in the Batch
Process dialog box lists the files.
Click on the Process Batch Process Job
icon to complete.
Solution/Workaround:
Different Global Origins
From the Sitemenu > Utilities >
View-Information Utilites select
Reset Global Origin.
„ This utility will show the user
the current global origin and
change it if needed.
„
9
Solution/Workaround: QuikChek
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
To solve the problem of QuikChek putting elements on the
default level when fixing symbology errors:
Open the file in the untitled workspace & open Level Manager.
From the Level Manager dialog select the Levels pull down
menu > Import.
Navigate to the FDOT2004 server installation directory:
\fdot2004\standards\symb.
Select the appropriate discipline level library for the file
(*.dgnlib).
Click the OK button on the Import Levels dialog after selecting
the DGNLib.
From the MicroStation menu bar, select File > Save Settings.
Exit the design file. (End the MicroStation session).
Open the file in the appropriate FDOT workspace.
Rerun QuikChek.
Solution/Workaround: Reference
Attachments
Two very important settings are
Orientation and Scale.
„ Orientation - To align the
reference with the active model
with regard to both Global Origin
and design plane coordinates,
select Coincident – World or to
align the reference with regard to
design plane coordinates only,
select Coincident.
„ True Scale uses the units in the
active model to align one to one
with units in the reference.
Note: Coincident World & True Scale must be used when attaching a
reference with the old working units, resolution & GO to a new V8 file.
10
Solution/Workaround: Reference
Attachment Settings
Note: Check to
see if the scale is
set 1.000002 :
1.000000
After attachment, if the reference does not align with the
coordinates of the active file, but is off by a few feet,
then it is due to an applied scale for different unit labels.
If the unit label in the reference is foot or feet, but the
unit in the active file is survey foot, then true scale will
apply a scale factor to account for the difference in
International foot and survey foot. This may not be
needed.
Solution/Workaround: Reference
Keyins
„
The REFERENCE RELOAD FORCE key-in
forces a reload of a reference attachments –
this is sometimes necessary after changing
working units or resolution of a referenced
file. After entering the key-in select the
references files that are to be reloaded.
11
Solution/Workaround: Finding
Reference Attachments
„
The FDOT2004 software finds reference files by
starting at the directory of the active file it then
looks for the _meta_info directory. The directory
above this directory is then considered to be the
root of the project. FDOTConfig then adds all
subdirectories in the project to the MS_RFDIR
variable dynamically. If reference files are not
found correctly, there is an extra _meta_info
folder.
NOTE: There should only be one “_meta_info”
directory per project and it should be located in
the root of the project.
Solution/Workaround: Reference
Levels Turned Off
„
FDOT provides a utility
on SiteMenu to modify
reference attachments
in a batch mode. The
program is accessed
from Utils > Reference
Utilities > Reference
Tools.
12
Reference Tools (1)
„
„
„
Specify current file only
or multiple files.
If multiple files are
selected, browse to the
root of the folder to be
processed and define
the files to include or
exclude using wildcards.
Then click on Processing
> Add File Operation.
Reference Tools (2)
„
„
The Add File Operation
creates a new tab that
defines a specific
operation. For example,
three tabs could change
reference file logical
names, and two tabs
could change attachment
file information.
You can filter which
attachments get modified
by defining “Attachment
Criteria”.
13
Reference Tools (3)
„
Select which properties you would like to modify and
define their values. Wildcards can be used.
Reference Tools (4)
„
Define what levels
are to be modified. It
will turn on or off the
display of reference
levels. If none are
specified then they
will be left as
currently defined.
NOTE: The key-word
ALL can be used to turn
on or off all of the
reference levels
14
Reference Tools (5)
• After all of the operations have
been defined, select “Finish &
Process Files” to execute the file
processing. The processing will
run like the SheetNavigator batch
processing dialog, processing the
files in a separate instance of
MicroStation in a non-graphics
mode.
Reference Tools (6)
„
Reports can be
generated to assist in
the management of
reference attachments.
From the menu click
on File > Generate
Reports.
15
Reference Tools (7)
„
The program creates an XML file dynamically and
opens it in IE. The report displays all significant
information about the reference file such as it path
and attachment settings.
Solution/Workaround: Reference Level
Symbology
If the symbology of an element in a reference file
needs to be displayed differently (half-toning, etc.)
this can be done using Level Symbology Override.
„ In Level Manager, click on the reference file name.
„ Change the Symbology setting to Overrides.
„ Select the levels that you want the symbology
changed.
„ Choose Level > Properties to open the Properties
dialog.
„ Change the settings in the Symbology Overrides
fields to the desired symbology.
„ Click OK.
16
Reference Level Symbology
Save Settings before exiting the
file to save it for the next session.
Solution/Workaround: Large Cross
Section Files
„
Cross section files can become very large because of
the large number of references.
„
„
MicroStation stores a list of levels contained in the file for
every attachment
To reduce the impact remove all unused levels
before running the sheet layout. To do this use the
key-in: DELETE UNUSED LEVELS or use the
Compress function found under the File > Compress
menu.
17
Solutions/Workarounds
Additional FAQ’s are available from the ECSO
website:
http://www.dot.state.fl.us/ecso/main/faq/faq.htm
„
Training material and
Training videos are available
from the ECSO website.
„
What’s Next?
MicroStation 08.05.02.5?
„ GEOPAK 08.08.02.??
„ FDOT2004.01.03
„
When?
„ Target is September 2006
MicroStation XM
„ ????????
18
Questions?
http://www.dot.state.fl.us/ecso/
„ ECSO support:
„
850-245-1600
„ [email protected]
„
19